"O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself
a king of infinite space,
were it not that I have bad dreams."
- Hamlet
Act II scene ii

12 February 2016

Paragliders

This may sound a little crazy but frequently I drive up onto the nearby moors simply to read. I find a quiet place and sit in my car without distraction - totally focussed upon the book. Daylight helps to illuminate my pages.

And so it was on Thursday afternoon. Sitting right on the border between Derbyshire and Yorkshire, I absorbed two long chapters and then looked out across Burbage Moor. In the distance I noticed the unmistakable shapes of tiny paragliders, hovering about Stanage Edge, making use of rising air currents. Actually, they weren't tiny at all - that was just the perspective. They appeared like little may flies.

It was a reminder of the summer of 2008 when Shirley and I paraglided over the lagoon at Olu Deniz in Turkey. We were strapped to experts and lived to tell the tale. See this old post. For us it was literally a once in a lifetime experience but for others it is a mad passion that they revisit at every opportunity - even a cold February day. It's an adrenalin addiction.

Two chapters were quite enough so as that bright afternoon advanced towards evening, I decided to drive onwards to Stanage, hoping to snap some photographs of those daredevil paragliders. In total, I took sixty one pictures in twenty minutes, hoping that a few of them might turn out okay.

Just around the corner from where I live here on Tamborine Mountain is the take-off area for hang-gliders/para-gliders (see site below - it shows the area and other attractions this area here on the hill has to offer). I pass it every time I go to do my shopping. Those who partake in the adventurous fun gather there a few days each week with their equipment packed on their vehicles. I imagine they have a similar type of vehicle waiting somewhere down below.

It must be such a thrill, and an exhilarating thing to do, but I freely admit, I'd not be brave enough to do it! One time years ago I almost went up in a glider, but the pilot decided the dusk was descending too rapidly and pulled the plug on that plan. And I never got another opportunity to do it.

Well that's a shame that you never got to fly like a bird Lee but remained earthbound like an emu. Please don't misunderstand me - I am not saying that you look like an emu. I went to the link but I shall not be phoning Ken Hill any time soon.

Your photography skills are quite impressive YP. I also think reading in the car would be fabulous....although I have never driven to the moors to do it, quite often when I have arrived at home or somewhere else, and I'm warm and comfortable in the car, I quite often think how nice it would be to sit in the park or somewhere, with a flask of tea, and stay in the car with a book for a while.......it must be an old persons thing!

Hmm. I am a stick-in-the-mud. Or, in this scenario, a stick-to-the-earth! Never had a desire to fly, hang-glide, hot air balloon or anything of the sort. A mad gallop on a horse is about as daring as I've ever been or care to be. Your pictures are fascinating, of course.

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